Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost in Japan. It consists of hundreds of islands and is hundreds of miles (600) long. The islands are subtropical with hot summers and mild winters, and plenty of precipitation.

This climate is perfect for sugar cane and there on the islands, it is still grown and made into artisan sugar.

The sugar cane is harvested and then squeezed to extract the sugar water. It is then placed in kettles and boiled down. The mixture is raked to remove the impurities, and by the fourth kettle the sugar has become concentrated and is now more like candy.

Not solid or hard, it is soft and crumbly with a wonderful sweet taste.

It has a texture, like maple candy, with a flavor that hints of licorice, light muscovado, and a subtle hint of molasses. A complex, multi-faceted sugar. It is not small grains like white sugar, but is rolled out into sheets and then cut into small squares.

Okinawa Prefecture is known in Japan for having good health. And they consider their diet of seaweed, tofu, pork and the pure brown cane sugar as key ingredients to the diet and long life.